Last chance to see Banksy at Walker Art Gallery

Iconic sculpture returned to artist after long-term loan ends

The last chance to catch Banksy’s Bust of a Priest (defaced) at the Walker Art Gallery is Thursday 27 February.

Director of Art Galleries, Sandra Penketh said: “The reaction from our visitors to the sculpture has been incredible and we’re grateful Banksy chose the Walker Art Gallery as a suitable place to reveal the work, which we’ve had on display for more than two years.

“We’re sad to say goodbye to this iconic work. Banksy is one of the most well-known contemporary artists in the world and it was a great pleasure to show this piece among the other treasures at the Walker.”

The sculpture is an 18th-century replica stone bust of a priest whose face is replaced by a ‘pixelated portrait’ created from bathroom tiles. Believed to be a comment on the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church and its subsequent cover-up, the work is displayed among the gallery’s historic collection, close to work by Old Masters such as Rembrandt, Rubens and Poussin.

The Walker Art Gallery continues to be an exciting venue to see contemporary art with the John Moores Painting Prize opening on 5 July 2014.

Notes to editors

About National Museums Liverpool

National Museums Liverpool comprises eight venues. Our collections are among the most important and varied in Europe and contain everything from Impressionist paintings and rare beetles to a lifejacket from the Titanic.

We attract more than three million visitors every year. Our venues are the International Slavery Museum, Lady Lever Art Gallery, Merseyside Maritime Museum, Museum of Liverpool, Sudley House, Border Force National Museum (Seized! The Border and Customs Uncovered), Walker Art Gallery and World Museum.

One of the finest art galleries in Europe, the Walker Art Gallery is home to renaissance masterpieces, Tudor portraits and one of the best collections of Victorian and Pre-Raphaelite art in the country. An outstanding display of contemporary art includes work by David Hockney, Lucian Freud and Bridget Riley.